Virgin Media has told telecoms regulator Ofcom it will treat customers more 'sympathetically' after This is Money took up the case of a reader who was trapped by a price rise but not clearly told he could leave.

Peter Carney, 39 from South Croydon, is one of thousands of customers who suffered prices rises last year on telecoms services despite being signed up to so-called 'fixed term' contracts.

Mr Carney received a letter from Virgin Media in December that informed him his £33 bill for home phone, broadband and TV would rise by £2.09 a month.

Bills, bills, bills: Ofcom said that Virgin Media will deal more 'sympathetically' with customers in future after This is Money alerted them to a case where a customer could not cancel.

When he called in January to request
to leave he was told it was too late, and that he would now have to pay
£180 to cancel his contract.

Customers have the right to leave
when companies change contracts to raise prices but Virgin Media said
that Mr Carney had missed the deadline.

Virgin Media allows customers to
leave within 30 days of being informed of a price rise. However, as Mr Carney found, this important information is easy to miss.

Baffled: Mr Carney was told he would have to pay a fee to leave by Virgin Media - the firm insists this was a one-off occurrence.

The letter informing Mr Carney of
the price change only mentioned his right to leave in small print on the
back. Even if customers had bothered to read the small print, the full
details of their rights were still not included.

For these, the letter directed
customers to a webpage that gave the full terms and conditions,
including the 30-day deadline for cancelling.

Mr Carney thought he may be able
to leave on the basis that Virgin Media's letter was only dated
'December 2012' and did not provide a specific date from which the
30-day period should began.

But despite calling in January, within
30 days of the end of December, Virgin Media said Mr Carney should have
noted the day the letter actually arrived.

A spokesman said: ‘We write to all
our customers to clearly explain any price changes and give everyone
the choice to query or cancel their Virgin Media services if they decide
they’re no longer the right fit for them.

'We ask customers to get in touch
within 30 days of receiving our letter and, if they do, they can cancel
without any early disconnection charges.'

Last year, all the major telecoms
firms and mobile companies, pushed up prices – some of the hikes were so
big that customers were able to leave without paying a penalty.

The regulator Ofcom is consulting
on new rules that will make companies better explain customers' rights
when 'fixed term' contracts are changed.

Rise: The letter from Virgin to Mr Carney didn't have a specific date on it - so he didn't know how long he had to cancel.

At present, Ofcom says telecoms firms must notify customers of the change in price and cancellation rights.

They must give at least one
month’s notification before changes kick in and if the increase is of
'material detriment' they must allow customers to leave without paying a
fee and inform them of this right.

Virgin Media's processes complied
with these rules - but it is likely that would fail to meet new
guidelines planned for later this year which are still subject to consultation.

How to leave: The information about leaving his contract was on the back page of the letter and directed him to a web link.

Ofcom wants to ensure that notifications are clearly marked for the customers attention.

Providers should also include
upfront information about the consumer’s right to terminate their
contract – for example, on the front page, rather than via a link to a
webpage.

If the change is communicated via
an email then it must include the information in the subject line to
ensure customers are aware of the change.

This is Money passed details of Mr
Carney's case to Ofcom. A spokesperson said: ‘Ofcom considers it
important that Communications Providers’ notifications of contract
variations are clear and easy to understand. They should attract the
consumer’s attention, make the consumer aware of the nature of the
contract change or changes, and the likely impact on them.

'It should also, where relevant,
set out clearly what action the consumer can take to avoid the impact,
should they wish to do so.

‘We note the concerns raised by Mr Carney with regards to Virgin Media’s notification of its recent price change.

‘We have been in contact with
Virgin Media about the nature of their consumer communications in
relation to this particular notification, and now understand that they
are dealing sympathetically with Mr Carney’s case.’

A Virgin Media spokesman added:
'We’ve taken Mr Carney’s feedback about how we date our letters on board
and, as always, we’re keen to keep on improving the service we deliver
to our customers.’